XBUSX

Decode and interact with your BMW's comfort bus.

The I-Bus and K-Bus are the chatty backbone behind your IKE, lights, radio, steering-wheel buttons, and door locks. XBUSX lets you watch those messages live in human-readable form, look up what each one means in a citation-backed reference manual, and send commands back to specific devices — useful for retrofits, troubleshooting comfort modules, or building your own integrations.

Covers E31, E38, E39, E46, E52, E53, E83, E85, E86, and E87 (~1989–2013).

How to use it

In your browser — xbusx.bimmerz.app. Plug a USB-serial tap into the I-Bus or K-Bus, point the app at the port, and watch telegrams decode in real time. Files and bus traffic stay on your machine.

From a terminal — the CLI and protocol library aren't published to npm yet; clone the repo to run them:

git clone https://github.com/emdzej/xbusx
cd xbusx && pnpm install && pnpm build

The protocol reference itself is just markdown — browse it on the GitHub repo if you only need the documentation side.

The bus interface needs a hardware tap (USB serial or DIY hardwire) on the same machine as the app; the web app reaches the cable via Web Serial the same way EDIABASX, INPAX, and NCSX do, so the same Chromium-based browsers (Chrome, Edge, Opera, Brave) work.

Links

• GitHub
• User guide — set up a tap, monitor live, send commands.
• Developer guide — package layout, device twins, contributing to the reference.